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SBL: Tigers and Leopards start SBL season with victories

Fans wave flags and cheer at the National Taiwan College of Physical Education arena on Friday at the game between the Dacin Tigers and Taiwan Beer. PHOTO: LIAO YAO-TUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

Regular season action commenced in the Super Basketball League (SBL) on Friday evening with the Dacin Tigers downing Taiwan Beer in a 66-63 defensive struggle at the National Taiwan College of Physical Education in Taichung.

Superb three-point shooting by the Tigers was the difference between the two sides as they humbled the defending champs in a rematch of last season's championship finals by hitting 13 of 25 from behind the arc to prevail.

Leading the way for the Tigers was Chen Tsu-wei, whose pair of clutch threes in the final three minutes gave his team leads as large as seven points before they held off a tenacious Taiwan Beer rally to claim the win.

"The shots were there, so I took them ? and I'm glad they both went in," Chen said after the game. He has quietly earned himself the distinction of "Mr Fourth Quarter" with a slew of late-game heroics dating back to last postseason that helped the Tigers reach the finals.

The contest began with the Tigers' Lee Fong-yong connecting for two three's with eight of their first dozen points in a roaring start. But the Brewers were not rattled and answered with a 9-4 run of their own to close out the first quarter at 16-16.

Neither team was able to pull away in a hard-fought second quarter, but the Tigers still managed to finish the half strong by passing the ball up the court after a failed attempt for the last shot by Taiwan Beer and hitting a buzzer-beating bucket to lead 35-33.

The seesaw battle continued well into the third quarter with the Tigers resorting to their long-range three's for the bulk of their scoring while Taiwan Beer opted for a more conventional inside attack featuring newcomer Wu Dai-hao (from dmedia) and big man Ha Hsiao-yuan that kept the Dacin lead at a deuce (49-47).

Then came the decisive fourth that saw the Tigers capitalizing on several unforced turnovers by Taiwan Beer to take a 59-56 lead before Chen's late-game three's sealed the deal.

Trailing by three with nearly four seconds remaining in the game, Taiwan Beer had a chance to force a tie on their final possession with top scorer Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh pushing the ball up the court.

But he failed to get the shot off in time, giving the Tigers a thrilling three-point win.

Leopards 79, Bank of Taiwan 63

Tying a career-high with 10 assists in the game, Chen Hui corralled the Taiwan Mobile Leopards past the Bank of Taiwan by a 79-63 margin in Friday's other game.

The win by the Leopards was especially sweet for rookie head coach Cheng Chih-long since it was his first "W" in the role, marking the longtime power forward for the Taiwan national team's coaching debut a huge success.

Newly acquired forward from Taiwan Beer Lee Wei-min also proved his worth in a Leopards uniform by racking up 21 career-high points.

Point man Wu Yong-ren punished his former teammmates with 19 points and six rebounds to give the Leopards the necessary boost for the win.

Having lost four of their top starters from the postseason-qualifying squad of 2005, most recently top forward Yueh Ying-li to the Dacin Tigers, the talent-drained bankers' fivesome was no match for the Leopards as they fell behind by as many as 20 points to eventually lose by 16 in what could be the beginning of a very long season.
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